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July 30, 2012

Fading Leopard Nails

I have another manicure to share with you and this one is wild! It's leopard print! I've always wanted to do this but lacked the tools for it. Since I recently purchased a dotting tool/detail brush from Sally's I've been trying all kinds of patterns on my nails. For this one, I used a nude color to cover my nails and used multiple colors for the pattern. I'll explain more but here's how it turned out:

It's a slightly different (and a little messier) version of a leopard print, but I love it! Keep reading to find the colors I used and steps for making this design.

All over color:

OPI Tickle My France-y

For the leopard print:

EssieMod Square (pink)

EssieFear or Desire (orange)

OPIOPI Red (red)

Piggy Polish Strong Like Jazz (purple)

The Steps:
I started with a base coat from Revlon. I've noticed applying a base coat really helps my manicure last a lot longer. Then I applied 2 coats of OPI's Tickle My France-y, which is a creamy nude color.
After that dried completely, I put a couple drops of orange polish onto a paper plate in order to dip my dotting tool. The polish dries fast so I recommend using one color at a time on the plate or surface you're using so it remains fresh.

I started making dots and shapes to form the leopard print starting at the tips of my nails. It works best to apply one color and let it dry before adding another to keep the colors and shapes separate. After the orange, I used the purple to form shapes and so on. My goal for the pattern was to make it look like it was fading and getting lighter towards my cuticles.

Here is what the dotting tool looks like:

This is how I started

As you can see, I started off with a more defined pattern at my tips.

The end result

Here you can see the pattern isn't as distinct towards my cuticles.

I let the leopard pattern dry before I applied a top coat from Avon.

The whole manicure took awhile because of drying time but it was very simple with the dotting tool. If you don't have a dotting tool you can use the end of a bobby pin or straight pin.

You really can't mess up this design so if you like it, try it for yourself. I would love to do this in different colors too. If you try this design show me how it turns out - I'd love to see it!